I have a 5" fluorite refractor (Takahashi) with a focal length of 1,040mm. The
article mentioned a 4" refractor picked up the dimming of the star. Since the
planet orbits the star at 9.5 days (according to article I read), I should be
able to look at the star over the course of a week and see the dimming. I'll try
looking at it with the naked eye to see I can observe the dimming.

I'll check with my chart software tonight to see what the magnitude is.
Obviously, the magnitude is not a constant, so my software will be correct for
only one or two days of the week. ;-)

-Phil

> Of course! They dont mention the stars magnitude so it is
> possibly visible to the naked eye, but a planet the size
> of neptune! I think the reporter just misunderstood, he
> seemed pretty clearly to be talking about the planet.
>
>
> On Wed, 25 Aug 2004 20:00:03 +0000
> pcjones5@comcast.net wrote:
> >In another news story I read, it was the star that was
> >identified as being visible with the naked eye, not the
> >planet.
> >
> >-Phil
> >
> >
> >> I am posting this because the article claims that the
> >> planet is visible to the naked eye!
> >>
> >> http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2004/08/25/planet_eso040825.html>
Received on Wed Aug 25 16:54:42 2004